Beds of the type used in hospitals, other health care facilities and home health care settings typically have frames comprised of multiple sections, at least some of which are articulable, and a mattress supported on the frame sections. The articulable frame sections can be oriented nonhorizontally to affect the profile of the frame and the mattress. Some articulable beds are versatile enough that they can be placed in a chair mode in which the bed profile mimics that of a chair. Such beds are referred to as chair beds. The chair mode is not necessarily intended to enable occupant egress or ingress at the foot end of the bed. However some chair beds feature, in addition to a chair mode, a chair egress mode which is designed to enable occupant egress and ingress at the foot end of the bed. The chair egress mode, in comparison to the chair mode, typically features a lower overall height of the frame sections relative to the floor, and frame section angular orientations more favorable for egress. In addition, if the mattress is an air mattress, the portion of the mattress underneath the occupant's buttocks and thighs and behind the occupant's calves may be deflated to facilitate egress.
Although the chair egress mode is suitable for occupant egress, the occupant's center of gravity may nevertheless be too far behind his heels to be optimum for transitioning from a sitting posture to a standing posture or vice versa. It is, therefore, desirable to provide a chair bed with a chair egress capability that allows more suitable positioning of the occupant's center of gravity during egress and ingress.